Graphical modeling environments, such as the Simulink® environment from The MathWorks, Inc., allow engineers to build dynamic system models using a graphical representation. One variety of a graphical model may be a block diagram representation. The block diagram representation can be a graphical representation of a mathematical model of the dynamic system. The Simulink® environment provides reusable components called library blocks for the creation of graphical models. In the graphical models, blocks may be connected through signals that pass between connected blocks.
The values of signals or block parameters in a graphical modeling environment may be represented in a format called data type. The data type determines how a computer represents numbers in memory and relates to the amount of storage allocated to the numbers. The graphical modeling environment may allow a user or programmer to specify the data types of signals and block parameters in a graphical model. For example, the Simulink® environment allows the user to create models that use floating-point data types and/or fixed-point data types to represent signals and parameter values. A fixed-point data type is a method for representing numerical values with a set range and precision, whereas a floating-point data type is a method for representing numerical values with a changing range and precision.